As you may know, I've been tinkering with the idea of doing a TS3 Let's Play series for some years now. A couple of months ago, I decided to commit to the idea. Now, after hours and hours and days and more hours of writing, building, recording, editing and polishing, I finally have something to show for it.A pilot. That's what I'm calling it, because as my very first attempt at doing this sort of thing it's unlikely to be nearly as good as any second or third go at it. And I WILL be doing more of these, mind you.

This is just really boring. The characters have no backstory whatsoever, your voice sounds like you felt awkward while filming this, and the painful 25 fps makes me, well, feel pain (thought that's just really a matter of preference but still). There isn't really anything happening, this was an absolute BORE to watch.

One of the most ridiculous moments was when you said, "Okay Laura, let's just go talk to her...." BORING!!!

Now let's see you'd react to this, especially when you were the one that got mad at the entire sims community, and made your "Project Vie" (which btw, just turned it's first anniversary.

Yes, actually, you're right.
This whole thing really isn't what it ought to be. I'm pretty well aware of that I realized it wasn't going to be great when I was still recording it, and the longer I worked on it the more obvious that became. I knew it was probably going to be shit long before it was done, and I have a list of several dozen things I want to at least TRY to improve before making another episode. I absolutely agree that as a thing on it's own, this episode is mediocre at best. I'm only cautiously proud of it, and that small bit of pride comes from one particular aspect.

Namely, that I've never done this before. That about redeems it for me, but that's only a valid excuse as long as I haven't done anything better. Notice how I'm calling it a pilot, not a first episode; I don't want any subsequent episode to have anything to do with this because it'd just be dragging the whole thing down. It'd be me doing a thing but no one'll bother with it because you can't get past the first episode without falling the fuck asleep like I nearly did when I was putting it together.

Giving this experiment as much credit and attention as I have been isn't fair, it clashes with the actual goals I have in mind, and those paint a picture a lot prettier than me recording commentary and editing footage and thinking "god this is hopeless isn't it" along the way.

So would I say 4/10 is fair? Probably, yeah. You don't give a shit that this is my first shot at this, and neither should I or anyone else. It's mediocre. I can't make it through all 31 or so minutes of it and I'm the one who made the goddamn thing. The main reason I've been posting about it so much is because the idea has potential and because I was hoping anyone could be bothered to give the thing a fair judgement without some ass-kissing bullshit about how fun and original it is, because the IDEA is fun and original but the execution sure as hell isn't.

So thank you for your honest, bullshit-free, constructive feedback, and go fuck yourself for thinking I'd be so childish to be offended by it. Also go fuck yourself in general, I hear it's healthy to do so periodically.

I'm happy someone else said it, actually. I was really excited for this and when I saw the pilto had been posted I was like: "Finally!!!!" But...No. I couldn't watch the whole thing because nothign really happened. It was just sims talkign and...existing, not anything exciting and interesting, no big surprises just...Ohw, yes...This are indeed sims...This is a video.
I'm not the best at voicing my opinion and have quite a past of being a bit 'too' honest on the internet, so I didn't dare say anything at first, fearing you'd be offended. So I'm happy I'm not the only one who thinks so and that you indeed agree it could be a lot better. Of course it was, liek you said, a pilot episode. A try-out. I hope it will get better and more amazing once it actually starts.

I love that you guys have the same issues with it that I have, while you're also happy with the same bits I'm happy about.
I really like the theme, I can't wait to do more with it. I think the flashy intro came together pretty well. There's a couple of moments I liked, that I'll want to have more of in the future.
So it's great to hear others bring up the same cons and pros that I've found in it. It tells me that I have a pretty realistic opinion of my own work, and that I know what I should do with it.

It also tells me that I shouldn't confuse what I have PLANNED with what I have already DONE. Because that's how I keep talking about something that's great and really fun when I haven't gotten to that part of it quite yet.

Here's, in short, a few things I've made note of for subsequent episodes:

IMPROVE PACING. Ideally I'd want to have an hour of gameplay footage for every 5 minutes of video. That allows me to be more selective in what to keep and what to cut out. For this pilot I had an hour of footage for every 15 minutes. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room to cut the boring bits out.

PLAN AHEAD MORE. It's not enough to know where they'll be at the start, in the middle, and at the end like I did here. It's not just a matter of where they'll go but also what they'll do there and what their motives are for doing it.

HAVE EVERYTHING PREPARED. Don't show anything, anywhere, anyone on-screen until you're done with them. Don't have any Sims without at least a short character bio. Don't go anywhere before you've decorated the place sufficently. Don't have people walking around in their EA-default outfits which WILL look out of place.

GO SOMEWHERE NEW EVERYTIME, KEEP SOMETHING FAMILIAR EVERYTIME. The cinematic intro worked, people liked it. If you're going to have 45 minutes of episode you can get away with a minute-long opening montage or an intro sequence. But don't do the same thing twice and make sure to have new ideas for every episode.

DO NEW RESEARCH FOR EVERY EPISODE. There's something new to learn everywhere you look, so make sure you have some new knowledge every time. Did you know many computers already had graphical interfaces in 1988? Great, I'll keep it mind should I need to have someone use a computer. Did you know acid wash jeans were really popular at the time? Great, I'll put a character in acid wash jeans. Who was Khomeini, again? Would a white person in 1988 call another white person "bro" unironically? Et cetera, et cetera.

Okay, so I have comments, I made it through about halfway and here's my thoughts:

- I do like that you committed to the whole 80s aesthetic, with the hairs and outfits for the main characters.

- Maybe use some sort of really whittled down story progression just to keep the game from bringing in puddings with default outfits? Something so that you can control exactly which sims are in the town at any point in the game.
OR - If you have specific SPs you're pulling content from I'm 95% sure there's a way to limit the game to only pulling clothing from those packs, using Master Controller's CAS settings.
OR - Create a bunch of sims that you know will suit your game and turn them loose in the world. You could probably get people to donate some 80s-fied sims to the cause, especially if they know they're gonna see them get used.

- I gotta say I loved the intro too, I felt like a kid watching reruns of 80s sitcoms with my parents again.

- Maybe run the copyrighted songs through a distortion filter or something? Youtube is notoriously snitchy and they've been known to randomly take out copyrighted music and swap it for other stuff.
I was humming along quite a bit, the 80s had awesome music.

- "IS THAT A CAT I HEAR? HANG ON A SECOND ... OMG LOOK AT IT WHAT A CUTIE" <--- #relatable.

- Make things happen- there were spots where I completely zoned out. Since I usually have multiple browser windows open I started doing other stuff while waiting for things to happen. If you use Retuner, you can modify the interaction queue to theoretically queue up as many interactions as you want instead of just 8, that way you won't have to keep pulling up the pie menu while recording.

- Try shorter episodes, sped up a bit, at least until you get going. Half an hour can be a big commitment for sims videos, and at least for me, 45 minutes would be a hard pass. Honestly unless I trust the content creator to make stuff that's going to be interesting, I usually don't even bother clicking on sims videos longer than 12-15 minutes, or if I do, I put the video on double time.

- Know where you're going. Generally when I do watch sims videos, there's a theme, and at least a basic sketch of the characters. Switching to tv viewer mode for a minute, I love a wide variety of shows, but the one thing that connects them all is that they made me care about the characters and the story, and that's why I keep tuning in.

This is all just from my perspective as a casual viewer so obviously take it with a grain of salt- I don't spend a ton of time watching sims vids, but I do know what I like.

I just turned on your vid and I am shook, No offence,but all this time I thougt you were a girl lol.
Now I know that you're not!Each day I discover so many things its ridiculous!
PS:You have very pleasant voice. You could do ASMR vids lol

Just to elaborate on a few points that I think are relevant and important:

Quote:

Originally Posted by orose

I do like that you committed to the whole 80s aesthetic, with the hairs and outfits for the main characters.

Oh don't get me started on that sort of thing, I'm ANAL about it. Outfits, furnishings, hairdos, vehicles, even the more trivial stuff like editing style and color grading. If things aren't going to look right, why bother at all?
Also I'm doing a lot more with graphics for the next one, so I think that'll REALLY get the right vibes going.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orose

Create a bunch of sims that you know will suit your game and turn them loose in the world. You could probably get people to donate some 80s-fied sims to the cause, especially if they know they're gonna see them get used.

Both certainly good ideas that have been given consideration and, in the future, will be acted upon.Anyone willing to contribute in that regard should feel more than free to approach me about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orose

Maybe run the copyrighted songs through a distortion filter or something? Youtube is notoriously snitchy and they've been known to randomly take out copyrighted music and swap it for other stuff. I was humming along quite a bit, the 80s had awesome music.

I check beforehand to see if I'm allowed to use all the songs I want to. If I'm not, I'll use another one. Thankfully I have a good bit of freedom in that since most older music isn't really enforced by copyright as much, and I also know where to look for music they'll let me use.
And me too. I mean I kind of HAVE to enjoy the music, because I have so sift through so much of it that it'd be an absolute CHORE if I didn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orose

Try shorter episodes, sped up a bit, at least until you get going. Half an hour can be a big commitment for sims videos, and at least for me, 45 minutes would be a hard pass. Honestly unless I trust the content creator to make stuff that's going to be interesting, I usually don't even bother clicking on sims videos longer than 12-15 minutes, or if I do, I put the video on double time.

I'm fine with the length as-is; it's the amount of stuff happening in that time that needs work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orose

Know where you're going. Generally when I do watch sims videos, there's a theme, and at least a basic sketch of the characters. Switching to tv viewer mode for a minute, I love a wide variety of shows, but the one thing that connects them all is that they made me care about the characters and the story, and that's why I keep tuning in.

Laura Gallagher is doing very well for herself. She has a well-paying office job and owns lots of expensive stuff, and when she's not working, she's partying. She makes friends easily; when she's not around friends who wear ripped jeans and leather, she's around friends who wear expensive suits. And yet, she just can't help but get the idea that this life in this city is not what she wants. Will Laura find herself this year or will it take more time?

Things aren't always so easy for Isa Gausset. For one thing, she's as introverted as they come. She never quite fits in with the crowd, but she's sweet and she always means well. Could this be the year that Isa finds the courage to go out there and experience new things?

Jeremy Tackett isn't the brightest person in the world. He's never preoccupied with anything particularly substantial, but he'd really like to be more than just that jock guy at the bar. Now it's another year, and that means more chances to become someone new.

Hi! Had watched your video last week, hadn't come around to commenting on it.

I...actually liked it. I didn't find it specially boring, but the lack of commentary in some places could make it seem like that. That could be improved, not with more talking time, but with more talking that fleshes out the Let's Play, the characters, or the game. You obviously have some good sense of humor and witty commentaries; maybe throwing more of that type of commentary could make the vids more interesting. Another methode could be going on tangents, that explain more about what you're trying to do, what inspires you, what you remembered while playing, or what are the feelings you think those characters have. Anyways, I'm wxpecting the next installement, so keep on with your Let's Play!

Oops, I thought you were a woman. Unexpected male voice.
The intro was awesome and the sims and sets are pretty to look at, a nice and natural 80's feeling, not over the top. I think you got the visual part down, now it only needs more depth/interesting stuff happening. When is the next part coming out? You working on it now?

(For extra comedy turn on subtitles for when the characters are speaking simlish! "Arse off, behave!")

Working on it now. This was a proof-of-concept; I'm taking extra time to set things up properly for Episode 1 and beyond. I want to do a lot more with storytelling; with making Bridgeport bigger and more realistic; with authentic-looking visual effects, and with familiarizing myself with various in-depth creative tools and with the more in depth parts of filmmaking. That also involves planning and recording many hours of gameplay to make the end result more fun to watch than the pilot (which I'm not thrilled about).

I've been creating new assets, new sets, new Sims, new tunes and more over the past month and I'm seeing what I can do with Blender, After Effects, Photoshop, and with practical effects to add to the look and feel of 80s big city living. Without ruining the narrative itself, preferably.
I'd like for it to be done next week but unfortunately it'll probably be no earlier than May.

I don't want to spoil next episode, but I do kind of want to talk about it......so let's just say it's about capitalism and aerobics. Maybe both at the same time, maybe neither. Who knows?